System Requirements and Compatibility Reference Guide

Introduction

The Stonevoice applications are server products that work in tight integration with the related IP telephony infrastructure. As with the deployment of IP Telephony solutions and VoIP networks, the installation of the Stonevoice applications require analysis of the compatibility issues that exist between the various devices in the network.

This guide provides you with:

• Minimum system requirements
• Recommended system configuration
• Reference compatibility information

Applicable Versions

This compatibility guide applies to the following products:

• Stonevoice Application Suite version 2.4 (no Service Pack)
• Stonevoice Video Suite version 1.1 (no Service Pack)
• IVR Studio Standalone version 1.4 (any build)
• Billy Blue's version 3.0 (any build)

Note - The SkyStone product is not covered here; see the separate SkyStone System Requirements and Compatibility Reference Guide.

Previous product versions are not covered. Generally, when troubleshooting compatibility issues, you should upgrade the Stonevoice products to the latest version as a first step.

Note - This guide is constantly updated (even for the same product versions) as new issues are discovered and new configurations are tested. Always refer to the updated version on the Stonevoice website.

Applicable Telephony Platforms

This compatibility guide contains information related to the currently available telephony platforms (Cisco CallManager, Cisco CallManager Express, Innovaphone).

Which Information Is Needed?

For the Stonevoice products to operate properly, ALL the following requirements and compatibility constraints must be satisfied:

1. Server Machine: Hardware Requirements
2. Server Machine: Operating System Requirements
3. Server Machine: Third-party Software Constraints
4. Telephony Platform: PBX Compatibility
5. Telephony Platform: Phone Compatibility
6. Telephony Platform: Third-party Devices Compatibility
7. Client Machines: Web Access Software Requirements

The following scenarios are the most common:

• You are deploying a new solution including one or more Stonevoice products.
  
  In this case, you might just choose one of the recommended configurations for a dedicated server machine and ensure that the telephony system configuration is chosen among the recommended ones.
   
• You are deploying one or more Stonevoice products into an existing customer solution.
  
  In this case, you have two options with regard to the telephony system configuration:
   
  • Plan to upgrade the telephony infrastructure of the customer to one of the recommended releases,
    
    or, if the former is not feasible,
     
  • Consult the reference information and ensure that the hardware platforms and firmware/software/IOS versions of the telephony system satisfy the minimum requirements and are not included among the incompatible releases.
     
  With regard to the server machine hosting the applications, you should always set up a dedicated server.

Should you have any question related to special configurations and use cases, you may contact Stonevoice as described in the Technical Support and More Information section below.

Levels of Support and Conventions

Stonevoice provides technical support for its products when they are installed in a suitable environment. Operating system editions, software/firmware versions (including Cisco IOS releases), hardware platforms and system configurations (such as amount of memory and available storage space) may receive different levels of support from Stonevoice:

• RECOMMENDED
  
  The entry is known to interoperate correctly with the Stonevoice products and compatibility is likely to be maintained in subsequent Stonevoice releases. Full technical support is provided on the compatible Stonevoice products.
   
• FULL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
  
  The entry is known to interoperate correctly with the Stonevoice products. Full technical support is provided on the Stonevoice product. As new features are developed requiring newer hardware or software, support for the entry may be phased out gradually, eventually demoting the entry to the EXPECTED TO WORK status.
   
• EXPECTED TO WORK
  
  As far as Stonevoice can tell, this entry should work with the Stonevoice products. This is true in most cases, but problems may arise with certain configurations, and in such cases limited technical support could be provided.
   
• INCOMPATIBLE
  
  The entry has been tested and has known problems or is incompatible with at least one of the Stonevoice products. Care should be taken when installing a Stonevoice product in an environment containing this entry. The preferred course of action is to upgrade the entry to a "Full Technical Assistance" or Recommended version as soon as possible.

Application Sizing and Number of Users

Some Stonevoice applications come in different sizes (e.g. number of ports, number of users) to better address the planned workload. Depending on the sizes of the applications you are going to install, different hardware and software requirements might apply.

For the Stonevoice Application Suite and the Stonevoice Video Suite, each product has a definite number of ports. Simply note the number of ports when consulting the reference tables in this guide.

For Billy Blue's, the application license is based on the number of users, but the system requirements depend on the average number of calls that will be managed by the application per month.

Server Machine: Hardware Requirements

Hardware requirements may vary based on the applications that will run on the machine and the planned workload. You can use the recommendation below to find out the system configuration that is more suitable for your purpose.

Standalone Server Requirements

Stonevoice applications must usually run on a dedicated standalone server. Most virtual machines environments are incompatible with the system requirements of the Stonevoice applications. See Running Stonevoice Applications on Virtual Machines for more details.

To find out the correct system configuration for a standalone server:

1. Note which applications you plan to enable on the machine. For applications with license restrictions (e.g. number of ports, number of queues), note the value you plan to use in the end.
2. Find the highest machine level from the list below, satisfying the requirements for all the products in your list.
3. If you plan to enable several products on the same server machine, opt for the more powerful configuration instead of the minimum.
    

Running Stonevoice Applications on Virtual Machines

Warning - With a few exceptions, Stonevoice applications cannot run on virtual machines in production environments. Stonevoice applications can run on virtual machines for evaluation or demo purposes only (with the minimum number of ports/channels).

Some applications can run on virtual machines in production environments, if all of the following requirements are met:

1. You are not running SkyStone or SkyStone ACD. These applications cannot run on virtual machines.
2. You are running WMware ESX. This is the only virtualization environment that is expected to work with Stonevoice applications. Other virtualization environments are incompatible.
3. The virtual machine hosting the Stonevoice applications must have reserved resources at least equivalent to the ones for a dedicated server. In particular, you must reserve:
   • CPU scheduling time. On multi-core architectures, it is often convenient to reserve an entire processor.
   • Physical RAM. Ensure that disk swapping is disabled.
   • Virtual hard disk space, that must be pre-allocated.
   • A dedicated physical network card on the host.

Server Machine: Operating System Requirements

The preferred operating system for the Stonevoice Application Suite and the Stonevoice Video Suite is Windows Server 2003.

• You should choose the Standard Edition if you do not plan to install the StoneFax application or if you plan to install StoneFax with support for up to 4 ports.
   
• You should choose the Enterprise Edition if you plan to install StoneFax with support for more than 4 ports.

Warning - The Stonevoice Application Suite and the Stonevoice Video Suite should not be installed on a domain controller.

In certain circumstances, you might want to install specific Stonevoice products on a domain controller temporarily, for demonstration purposes. For more information, please contact Stonevoice as explained in the Technical Support and More Information section below.

Warning - Do not install any Stonevoice product on the Cisco CallManager itself. This kind of installation is INCOMPATIBLE and will void the CCM maintenance agreement.

The reference table below can be used to choose an operating system.

Note - Only 32-bit editions of the following operating systems are supported. 64-bit editions are incompatible.

The Stonevoice Application Suite requires specific operating system components and configuration. For more information, see the "Software Requirements" section of the "» Installation Guide for the Stonevoice Application Suite".

Server Machine: Third-party Software Constraints

Warning - The Stonevoice Application Suite and the Stonevoice Video Suite should be installed on dedicated server machines. It's recommended not to install third-party applications on the same machine, except for the programs listed below.

The following applications may be installed on the server:

• The StoneFax application requires some third-party software to print documents and render them to faxes.
   
  • To print common office documents:
    • OpenOffice.org 1.1.5 (recommended)
    • OpenOffice.org 2.0 is not fully supported at the moment
     
  • To print PDF documents:
    • Adobe Reader 6.0 (recommended)
    • Adobe Reader 7.0 is not fully supported at the moment
    • Adobe Reader 8.0 is not fully supported at the moment
     
• The Fax2IP application requires a third-party fax server.
   
• An antivirus application may be installed, but requires special configuration. If you need to install an antivirus, please contact Stonevoice for more details, as explained in the Technical Support and More Information section below.

Telephony Platform: PBX Compatibility

This section covers compatibility with your primary Private Branch Exchange device, such as Cisco CallManager Express, Cisco CallManager, or Innovaphone PBX.

Cisco CallManager Express Compatibility

For Cisco CallManager Express, Stonevoice supports specific Cisco IOS releases, instead of specific CME versions.

To find out quickly which CallManager Express version is bundled with each IOS release, see the » Cisco Unified CME and Cisco IOS Software Version Compatibility Matrix on the Cisco website.

Cisco CallManager Compatibility

When installing a Stonevoice product in a Cisco CallManager environment, you should both:

• Check the compatibility matrix above for the Cisco IOS release installed on the voice gateway, and
   
• Check the compatibility table below for the Cisco CallManager version.

Innovaphone Compatibility

The following table summarizes the compatibility with the available Innovaphone PBX products.

Telephony Platform: Phone Compatibility

Cisco Phones Compatibility

The following table summarizes the compatibility with the available Cisco IP phones.

Please be sure to upgrade to the latest firmware version.

Innovaphone Phones Compatibility

The following table summarizes the compatibility with the available Innovaphone IP phones.
Please be sure to upgrade to the latest firmware version or software release.

Telephony Platform: Third-party Devices Compatibility

Some of the Stonevoice products are able to interoperate with third-party devices in the telephony system to provide additional functionality.

DECT Compatibility

The SSAM application of the Stonevoice Application Suite is able to interoperate with DECT devices to provide voicemail notification.

The following DECT systems get full technical assistance:

• Kirk Telecom IP1200 (recommended)
• Kirk Telecom IP600

GSM Gateway Compatibility

If you have a compatible GSM gateway, the SSAM application of the Stonevoice Application Suite has the ability to notify the user of incoming voicemail messages via SMS.

Stonevoice currently supports the Quescom GSM Gateway. No detailed compatibility information is available at this time.

Client Machines: Web Access Software Requirements

Most Stonevoice applications are server-only products with no need of additional client software. However, in most cases, a web browser is required to configure the applications using the web interface.

The following web browsers get full technical assistance:

• Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.x (recommended)
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0

Note - For the Stonevoice Application Suite, JavaScript support must be enabled in the web browser.

The following web browsers are expected to work:

• Mozilla Firefox

Technical Support and More Information

Given the high variability of software versions and configurations, this guide cannot be exhaustive. Should you have any general question or need more information on a specific case, you may refer to the following resources:

• Some special cases and solutions are covered in more detail in the Question and Answers section of the » Stonevoice Support Services website.
   
• For more specific questions, for new installations or existing installations covered by a Maintenance Agreement, you may open a support ticket also from the » Stonevoice Support Services website.
   
• For non-technical, pre-sales information on our products you may write an e-mail to info@stonevoice.com.